Angels in Disguise

Returning to work at New York City's "Daily Chronicle" (see "News Hounds" for an unconnected earlier stint), "The Bowery Boys" get involved in exposing a ring of mobsters, after policeman chum Gabriel Dell (as Gabe Moreno) is hospitalized in a shooting. Journalistic leader Leo Gorcey (as "Slip" Mahoney) is the newspaper's "chief copy boy" - and aspiring investigative reporter. Hapless Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones) is his apprentice. William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Benny "Bennie" Bartlett (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) are streetwise paperboys.

This "Naked City"-influenced satire starts off well, but loses steam several times during the running time. The startling opening works well, with Mr. Gorcey awakening in an alley, where he and Mr. Hall have been uncharacteristically beaten to a pulp. From there, Gorcey "narrates" the loopy, nonsensical detective story. Director Jean Yarbrough manages the tight budget reasonably well.

In early film appearances, youngsters Joseph Turkel (as John Mutton), Mickey Knox (as Angles Carson), Richard Benedict (as Miami), and Pepe Hern (as Bertie Spangler) make especially good pool hall hustler impressions. You're likely to forget the plot entirely, later in the running time, when bookworm boy wonder Edward "Eddie" Ryan (as Mr. Carver) and sexy girlfriend Jean Dean (as Vickie Darwell) enter the picture.

Watch for the scene where Mr. Ryan sadistically slaps Mr. Turkel's face, followed by Ms. Dean's sexually-charged entrance; in a dress which fills the movie screen like few others, Dean definitely gives the film a lift. Happily, the often underutilized Bowery supporting cast helps round up the forgettable, frayed storyline, with Bernard Gorcey (as "Big Louie") joining "Whitey the Whip", "Chuck the Chiller", and "Butch the Butcher".

***** Angels in Disguise (9/9/49) Jean Yarbrough ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Joseph Turkel

"Angels in Disguise" is a mixed bag. While it does a great job of putting the Bowery Boys in a film noir style movie, it does not do a great job delivering many laughs. This movie is more interesting than it is funny. In fact, there are very few laughs. There is, on the other hand, a surprising amount violence. It's worth a watch but not repeated viewings.

"Angels in Disguise" is certainly the most unusual Bowery Boys film. Instead of their usual style, this one is told like it's film noir...with Leo Gorcey providing noir-style narration and a much darker and more serious tone than their other films. It's also a lot more violent and gritty. It's a real shame...as I think this is the best film the team made...and a shame they didn't do more like it.

Sach and Slip are copy boys working for a newspaper. Soon they learn that a cop friend of the gang is injured...and his partner killed by some mobsters. As you'd expect, Slip decides to investigate on his own and soon ends up involved with the gang...a gang headed by a most unusual and cultured young man.

While Sach is, as usual, dopey and annoying, it's nice to see Slip playing a more serious role...along with his usual malapropisms and odd way of speaking. My favorite of these is in summary!

Overall, a very welcome change for the team. While I've seen nearly all the Bowery Boys' films, I must admit that they are very uneven and quite a few of them are downright terrible. "Angels in Disguise" certainly is not terrible. In fact, I really enjoyed it.

Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) are lowly copy boys in the New York Daily Chronicle newspaper. They get news that their police friend Gabe Moreno is in the hospital after a shootout. They decide to go undercover to do their own investigation.

This is a satire of a noir crime drama. It's Slip and Sach pretending to be hard. That's a funny concept and I really like the premise initially. The jokes level off and the movie loses steam over time. The funny premise doesn't lead to a lot of laughs. The movie seems to struggle between the two opposing genres and can't quite combine them. It needs to be funnier.

The usual cast of Leo Gorcey, with his brother, AND his father. Add in Huntz Hall and Bill Benedict, to make up the "Bowery Boys", in this middle chapter of the Bowery Boys films. In this one, Slip is a copy boy at the local newspaper, so he's hearing the good and the bad, first-hand. When he hears of a local robbery, the gang jumps in and starts investigatin'. wordplay. mis-understandings. slapstick comedy. the usual horsing around.... playing to the audience. It's pretty good! Directed by Jean yarbrough; had directed a whole bunch of Bowery Boys films, as well as Abbott & Costello! doesn't get better than that. lots of Yarbrouh's stuff showing on Turner Classics on a regular basis.